Ugolino di Nerio: The Predella Panels of the Santa Croce Altarpiece
The Betrayal of Christ, National Gallery, London. The Way to Calvary, National Gallery, London The Deposition, National Gallery London The Resurrection, National Gallery, London Ugolino di Nerio's altarpiece was painted around the year 1325 for the Franciscan church of Santa Croce (Holy Cross) in Florence, although Ugolino himself was a painter from Siena. The work was probably paid for by the Alamanni family - about whom little is known - as their coat of arms was mentioned in a 1575 description of the altarpiece. Predella panels are scenes which run along the base of an altarpiece, and they were a recent innovation in altarpiece design in the early 1300s. Ugolino's predella panels depict scenes of Christ's suffering and resurrection, and are thus related to the theme of the church and the altarpiece - the Holy Cross. The altarpiece was broken up in the nineteenth century and the surviving parts are now found in different mus...